Snow. What was better when covering the only home that he knew of now. He'd never really seen it when he lived in Australia, but when he'd moved to the states, it was something more common. Pulling his jacket closer around him, he moved down the street. A book was in his other pocket, making it impossible for him to put his hand in it, but he didn't mind, he'd grown accustomed to the bite of the winter weather, it still confused him at times when he would think that July was summer, and December winter, he was used to that being reversed. But it was nice to be able to get back to Australia ever so often to just relax amongst his native surroundings.

The Java Bean & Bakery sign was in front of him by the time he pulled himself out of his thoughts, just the place he'd been looking for. He wanted to get out and about, even though that just meant coming to his favorite place in town besides school; the bakery/coffee shop and reading. But today, atleast, he had a purpose. He was still trying to think of what he could teach in his first class. Wow. A teacher, that was definantly going to take some getting used to, true, he'd taken a break from school for a year or two and went back to Sydney, but now, he was back and excited about the start of school. Pushing the door to the coffee shop open, he welcomed the warmth onto his hand, almost instantly feeling the warmth come back into it.

The shop was unusually crowded, but that didn't surprise him, seeing as the snow was falling again today, but he still made his way up to the counter unwaveringly. His brown-blonde shaggy hair had kept his ears warm the trip there, but he still wanted the hair out of his eyes. "Coffee, and a blueberry muffin please." He said to the person at the counter, his accent strong but with a light dusting of american. The teen nodded to Jason and went and made his order, a minute or two later, handing it to him. Jason nodded his thanks and ventured off to locate a table.

Coffee, bitter at first, but better with every sip. That was the one thing that made Jason keep drinking it. He had gotten into the habit of ordering the drink when he was a student and it had just stuck with him. Setting the drink and the plate with the muffin down on the table, he pulled out one of the chairs and sat down, book in hand simultaniously. It was one of his favorites; Carl Hiassin's Skinny Dip, an unusually good book about a wealthy woman who get's thrown off a ship. Opening to his page, he began to read.

Jason paused mid-page-turn to reach over and pick up his cup of coffee, he cringed for a moment as the drink met his lips, but he shook it off and simply blurred it out with a bite of his muffin. The Saturday morning weather was clearly taking a turn for the colder as he looked out the window, the snow seemed to be coming down even harder, making many scatter into surrounding cars and buildings.

Setting the muffin back on his plate he turned his attention back to his book, almost instantly immersed. The book was one that he'd found here in the States when he'd left to head to college back in Australia, he'd finished it on the plane twice. It was amusing to him, a wealthy woman pretending to be dead? What could be more entertaining? He just let himself flow into the book, though only half his mind was entertained, the other half was still thinking about classes.

"Hello, Jason." His colour blended eyes looked up from his book, "Oh, hello Magdalena. He smilled, his accent was almost opposite her's, he knew her a little, but he'd only met her this year. Very rarely, did the Science teacher find himself down in her neck of the woods, but he did enjoy talking with her, it was interesting how much you could learn about a person, simply by the language with which they spoke. "Am I interupting?" Jason closed the book around his index finger and rested it on the table. "Luckily, not this time." He said, pushing out the chair opposite him with his foot, carefull to avoid kicking it right into her. "Care to join me?" That was the polite Jason Deen for you.

With practiced ease, he opened the book just long enough to catch the page number and then closed it, pushing it off to the side. Replacing it with his coffee and muffin, his shaggy hair falling into his eyes.

Jason couldn't help but smile gently back at her when he watched her grin, he knew that not many people called her by her full name, but it was more unique than Maggie. Thus, him turning down her offer to call her by that. He was a fan of different names, his middle and last name were really the only thing different about his, Jason was common enough, but Mathias and his current spelling of Deen were both different enough to suit him.

"I would love to, thank you." He shrugged politly and nodded off her thanks, it was nothing, he didn't get much company of other teachers, or even people his own age much, he was always wrapped up in this or that. "Sure," He told her when she thanked him and took his offer for the seat, taking another sip of his coffee, he was happy that it was beginning to loose it's bitter edge, still not as pleasent as he'd like, but it was getting there, he really needed to learn a way to make coffee better, he knew there were ways out there.

"So, Jason, tell me. What brings you out in the snow today?" Jason took another sip of his drink and thought for a moment. "I couldn't stand being stuck in a classroom getting ready for the school year to begin, nor could I remain at home, so I came to the one place that came to mind. Here." He told her with a small smile. He enjoyed this cafe, it was such a nice place, being family owned and all. The food was excelent, and different than most other places who just popped a couple hundered in the oven each morning and served them all day. "And what brought you here today?" The intensity of his accent surprised him sometimes, this was one of those times, most all of the evidence of his heritage had faded while he'd gone to school here, but then after the years back home, it had come back fully.

He watched as the two students swerved away from the table, this made him too laugh. "It seems the students are not too pleased to be reminded that Carstairs is looming around the corner." Jason nodded his agreement. "Appears so, I know I wasn't when I came here." He shrugged, he'd been a normal student back then, but he enjoyed his breaks and holidays, it let him just clear his mind, and yet now, here he was, about to launch himself into teaching the world's future. He turned his attention away from the students, and watched as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and then relax into her chair, he would have leaned back into the chair, except for the fact that his jacket's zipper was stabbing him in the back, and he just didn't want to move it, so instead, he rested his arms on the table's edge.

A gentle smile appeared on his lips, he enjoyed listening to others, it was just something he'd gotten used to, and then turned it into almost a game. Back when people were debating about his parent's money and estates, he'd had to sit through neumerous discussions where all he had to do was nod, or shrug. But now, he enjoyed listening to different accents and sentence structures. And Magdalena's was unique. "Well, I finished at the school yesterday, I was on my way to the grocery, I am not a fan of this cold, so I was planning on staying indoors and cooking something." Jason listened patiently, he'd grown way too acustomed to the cold, even as quickly as he did, he missed the warmth of the outback occasionally.

"Ah, I think that my students will get to do book work or something to get to know eachother while I get the classroom ready." He laughed softly, that wasn't a bad idea actually...."What were you planning on cooking?" He had had his share of different foods and most of them were quite good, he would never say that about the cow eye mixed with egg, that was just nasty. His eyes never left her face, but still, half his mind was away thinking about the start of school the following week.

He listened to her carry on the thought, and was a little embaressed, he'd thought she was finished, he wouldn't have interupted if he had known that she had more to say on the topic. "Anyway, I was cold to the bone and decided to stop in here and get something to put the feeling back in my toes before I finished my errands." He listened to her laugh, it was nice, enjoyable. Taking another sip of his coffee, he smilled a little as he sipped the drink, it was getting more barable to drink finally.

"Oh? Did you attend Carstairs as a student? I was unaware of that." He nodded slightly, biting the inside of his lip hesitantly, "Yes, actually, I came here and then went back to Sydney for college." He knew that he was slipping back into his bubble, he was afraid of his past, he wasn't denying that, and he didn't like returning there, but something about Magdalena made him want to not be afraid of it. "But don't feel bad, not many people realize that this seems more like my home than any place else on Earth." He knew it sounded cheesy, but it was the truth. "I'm sorry." He'd been watching her face, he'd noticed her watching his, but he was smilling gently at her, "For what?" Though he was fairly sure he already knew the answer to that.

Jason didn't mind the silence, it wasn't akward between them, never completly comfortable with him, because it gave him time to think ever more, but he didn't mind. A small smile on his lips, he watched as she listened to him, he wasn't used to that, normally, people only listened with an eighth of their mind towards any teacher, or to him, but she didn't seem to uphold that, and he was greatfull.

"I was planning on making Aji de Gallina. It's a recipe of my mother's. It's a type of spicy chicken stew. It is quite delevtable." Jason nodded softly as he listened, he had never heard of it, but it sounded good, although, it made him crave Chicken Cassarole for some reason. Shaking his head to clear the thought, he drank another sip of his coffee. Out of the tops of his eyes, he watched as Magdalena's face peachened a little, this made him laugh quietly into his coffee, unfortunatly, that made drinking it very difficult. A cough or two later, he smilled back at Magdalena, just peacefull. "I never would have guessed that you were from here."

Shaking his head gently, Jason sighed. He might as well tell her the whole story. I'm not, I was born and raised in Sydney, but when I was....17, my parents were involved in a drive by homicide...I was alone in Australia for about a year and a half and then got a full ride schollarship to here and to a collage of my choosing. He sighed, running his fingers through his hair to calm him down a little.

He watched as she seemed to respond to his question. A smirk on his face, a quite sarcastic one at that. "It seems that I lost myself in thought and was staring quite blankly at you." Jason shrugged, he got that a bit, though he never really noticed until now. I don't mind. He smilled gently, and took a bite of his muffin. He was about to say more when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. "Do you mind if I take this?" He asked her, his being polite, he still answered the phone. "Jason Deen. And how'd you get into that mess? I see. Um...I'm in the middle of something so how about you call a tow truck, no, Maria, don't do that." He rolled his eyes, few people knew of his personal life, and almost no one knew of his sister. He half blamed her for his parents being shot. They had been visiting her after all. "Maria, please, be rational. No, that is irrational....869-5464, I'll see you then. Bye" Rolling his eyes, he closed the phone and put it back in his pocket, he couldn't believe how often Maria needed a tow truck, he had their number memorized for crying out loud. Sorry about that, where were we?" He said, looking back up at Magdalena with an appologetic look on his face.

"Listen, the recipe for this evening makes way more than I can ever eat. I was thinking about calling April Hyatt, the art teacher, and having her join me, but I think she has an art class that she teaches tonight at the Community Center." Jason was a little surprised, was this a date? Or just an invitation for free food? Either way, he was fine. "Would you like to join me for dinner? That is if you're done at the school and don't have other plans..." Jason pretended to consider the idea for a moment and then looked up at her, a boyish grin on his face. Is it a date? He asked, trying to corner her into his trap, he wouldn't mind at all if it were.

"Oh, Jason." He already knew the words before they left her mouth, "I'm so sorry. I cannot imagine how difficult that must have been for you." Jason shook his head in response, feeling her ever so lightly place her hand on his. "It's fine....well....erm....not fine, but I'm alright with it. And you had no way of knowing." He smilled ever so gently at her, trying to prove that he'd come to terms with it.

"If there is somewhere you need to be, please do not let me keep you." Jason hadn't even gotten a chance to speak yet, shaking his head, he smilled at her again, You're so sweet, but no, if she calls back, I've changed my number and moved back to Australia." He couldn't help but laugh, his sister, though a few years older and married, always seemed to want to ask him for help instead of her husband. "You may call it whatever you like. Although, I could not help but overhear your phone call and I do not believe that Maria would be happy if you were to go on a date with another woman." For a moment he was confused and then burst out in a set of quiet laughter. "My appologies, honest, but I doubt that she'd mind much, Maria is my sister." He put his hand against his mouth to try to concele the enourmous grin he had plastered onto his face, but it still showed through his eyes. "She has this issue with calling her husband whenever she has car trouble, so she calls me now that we live in the same city." He explained gently, resting his hands on the table in front of him. He had noticed the innitial embaresment when he'd asked her if it was a date, and now, the same coy little smile on his face, he asked in a soft voice. "If it wasn't a date, can it be?" He couldn't deny, he'd been a charmer back home, and the fact that he could play the guitar and drums had come in handy back then, he wasn't sure if it would now, but it was still worth a shot, right?

Jason could see the confusion on her face when he commented on the phone call, he felt a little mean for laughing at her, but it just confused him so much. "I'm sorry for laughing, I shouldn't have done that." He composed himself quickly and looked down at the table, a little embaressed himself. ""Your sister?" Jason nodded slowly, not trying to still seem as though he was laughing at her, he wasn't in all honesty, he was laughing more at the fact that he'd drawn himself into this trap. "You never mentioned you had a sister." With a small shrug, he took another sip of his coffee and looked back at her. "Many a time, I feel a little mad at my sister, I think part of me blames her for our parents deaths. But I still love her more than almost any person on this earth." He explained, trying to not stay on the topic to spare Magdalena some embaresment.

Running his fingers through his hair to pull it away from his eyes, he just let his even gaze fall on her still. "And it's really nothing major, she locked her keys in her car and doesn't know how to get them out, he rolled his eyes slightly at his sister's ignorance, but remained peacefull. For a moment he watched as she lowered her gaze to the table, [color=orange]"I'm sorry if I embaressed you, I never really talk about my past, for good reason as you've just heard, but I do appologize."

He was a little worried when he watched her head snap up, had he said something wrong? Had he offended her in some way? He hoped not, but he couldn't be sure. But his thoughts were put at ease when he heard her voice again "I suppose I'd be alright with that." His boyish grin appeared on his face again as he watched her, not wanting to seem too happy, he stood for a moment and collected his now empty coffee cup and made his way over to the trash can, he'd yet to finish off the muffin, so that remained in his place, he wasn't going to walk off and just leave, he wasn't like that. A moment later, he returned, the smile still on his face, but he didn't appear too excited at the fact that she'd said yes to the date. "Sorry about that, I'm kind of paranoid when it comes to some things, empty cups is probably my main thing." He joked, the appology for his ubruptness wasn't the joke, but the paranoia was.

"No, no. It's alright." Jason's shaggy hair had fallen into his eyes as he'd looked down at the table, but he made no notion to move them, he just watched Magdalena, she had him utterly perplexed, but he liked that, it made him actually think, instead of just coasting by pretending to actually have to think about something, which had come in handy when Maria had told him she was getting married, he really didn't like the oaf that she'd married, but he wasn't going to bring that argument up against her.

When he returned, he was surprised at how calm he was staying, he figured that when he'd get here as a teacher, he would have no friends, but now....now he had a date with one of the most beautiful women he'd met as of yet. This confused him, but it was a good kind of confusion. "Well, Jason, I hate to drink and run, but I do have a lot of errands to run today." With a nod, Jason was a little surprised that he didn't want her to leave. I understand, I'm sorry for keeping you from your errands, although I had a nice time with you, we should do this again....when you're not busy, of course." He watched, standing up as she did, watching as she drew out the map on the napkin, though an adress would have been fine, this proved that she cared that he got there. "It's really not too hard to find." With a nod, he accepted the napkin and watched as she slipped her coat over her, "What time should I expect you?" For a moment, he pondered this, "Is seven-ish good with you?" He didn't want to be too early, nor too late, afraid that it would be just that...too late. "And would you mind if I brought a dessert of some sort? I wouldn't want you to feel like I just came for the food. Although that might be a tiny part of it." He smilled as he said it to prove just how tiny a part, minscule might have been a better word, but still. He picked his own coat off of the back of his chair, and his long-forgotten book off the table, placing it in his pocket, he stood there, half wondering what to do or say next, so he just did nothing.